Environmental Scan and Internal Data (continued)

Figure 2: Number of PhDs awarded in geosciences 1973 through 2005. Source: http://caspar.nsf.gov

The external scan reveals that funding for the NSF Division of Atmospheric Sciences (ATM) has decreased in recent years (Fig. 3). This has resulted in a corresponding decrease in funding to NSF’s grants program and NCAR. The current funding environment is challenging and places constraints on our ability to redress staffing shortages by depending on additional resources.